


feet on the ground, then jumping

by parkadescandal



Series: 20kAu [6]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: 20kAu, Engagement, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Innuendo, M/M, postlude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:35:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22730020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkadescandal/pseuds/parkadescandal
Summary: Dearly betrothéd, we are gathered here today, in the presence of Chirithy, to get through this thing called engagement, and to witness the separation of a young man's foot from his mouth.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: 20kAu [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1223426
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	feet on the ground, then jumping

**Author's Note:**

> trust me no one is angrier than i that these assholes are already back (yet another epilogue, a little further out this time)
> 
> premise is basically everyone bullies riku because he is at any given moment transparently cheesin' at his phone but still can't DTR without immense difficulty in spite of like, having had a ring put on it like three years previous
> 
> **me:** in this imagined episode the gang watches ricky take a phone call and desperately tries to get him to say the word "fiancé" out loud when asked who rang  
>  **asia:** say it. say fiancé.  
> riku, spitting blood: hyuck you
> 
> no betas no obsessive nitpicking we transcend _le petit mort_ like men happy belated valentine's day i guess

Riku is outsourced to Departure to help oversee its latest matriculation, beckoned as an esteemed and honored guest amongst the fresh faces. Terra and Aqua are otherwise busy handling castle affairs and upkeep, but one of them always finds a moment in of the day to drop by and check in on him. The both of them independently have an endearing habit of resting a gentle and genuine hand on his shoulder when they send along an earnest inquiry with a soulpiercing stare, “ _How are you?_ ” as if he’s the one to worry about. Should they both be in the same room at the same time when the check in occurs the dual attack is near lethal.

Their aura of playfulness keeps the castle happy, and light, and welcoming, and it’s not a wonder its halls stay full year after year with a new generation in the old tradition. It’s a comforting place to be, shining so much brighter for eclipsing what it came from, and there are few better hands in which it could be.

Unfortunately it often makes for a lonely sigil. Instead of filling the gaps, the love that shines so brightly through the place only illuminates the depth of the vacancy at Riku’s side, void of the part of his heart he left behind in Radiant Garden. One consolation is that the pace remains a little slower there, just as when they first moved there—Sora has more than a few occasions where he can call and spend equal parts of each conversation babbling happily and gazing plaintively, each an _“I miss you_ ” in not so many words. It’s one way for him to pass the stretches of time, though one wouldn’t suspect any lack of danger considering in the months since they’d stolen away from the tower there hadn’t been a solitary day in which they hadn’t woken up to find at least one guardian of light cheerfully camped out in their sitting room. Odd, considering the constant chorus of muttered complaints and mumbled utterances of “ _get a room_ ” that preceded their departure.

Today Riku takes brief leave of the training grounds during a lull and answers one such call to find much of the same—at the forefront Sora’s infectious grin, and in the background Kairi’s wan smile, a poor replacement for the eye-roll the rest of her body language indicates she is clearly repressing. It’s more the latter that causes Riku to catch a smile between pursed lips, though it’s more borne from a mutual joke feigning disdain for the enthusiasm of the former.

Before anything else Riku scrambles for the little listening device connected to the phone to make sure any audio is relayed there instead of out onto the grounds, where the trainees already do a terrible job of pretending they’re not paying attention to his disappearance. Fortunately Chip and Dale’s research department is funded with much more of their time these days—each new model of the gummiphone serves more functional than the last, now making it easy enough to carry without drawing too much attention or taking up too much space. Riku is gratified; he often left it behind before.

It’s dishonest to cite that as the only reason, though—when asked for some focus test feedback from Disney Castle’s research and development team, the only answer he could provide was tight and tentative: “… _Don’t you have a way to make it… not so_ loud _?”_ He’s well understood; Sora had a regretful habit of opening every conversation with a cheeky _"Are you alone?”_

He has the sense, at least, to _ask_ —except most of the time that’s the problem. It never fails to set their friends snickering; a feedback loop of conditional response. Does Riku’s face go red because of the implication, or is it because they assume it _is_ one? At the tower they attempted discretion—quiet, courteous, polite and plausibly deniable, but subtle? Not at all. Even the least observant visitor didn’t take a long time clueing in to how their relationship played out behind closed doors at any given time. It caused Riku no end of consternation. Onscreen, Kairi’s pointed expression at nothing in particular calls to mind their last conversation on the subject.

“It’s not a bad thing,” she said to him, shaking her head with a smile at the tension radiating from him. “You’re just really obvious.”

He looked on, scandalized.

“Not like that. I mean, only sometimes. I’d say he’s not as sneaky as he thinks he is, but that implies that I don’t think he does it on purpose.”

At that Riku put his face in his hands.

“But we all know about that, it’s not new. For everyone else… it’s just easy to tell you’re really into each other.”

This was perhaps more mortifying than knowing that everyone there had caught a glimpse of him getting groped at many a dubious in-opportunity.

“And of course there’s that,” she said, gesturing vaguely at his hand; he flexed it unconsciously. There upon it sat a band, not flashy, not large—just as easily only an enchanted accessory (…which it also was). Quiet. Courteous. Polite. Plausibly deniable. Even subtle—

“You both have the same one.”

He doesn’t dare remove it.

Riku watches her leave the room with a pleasant wave—quite unnecessarily, though he’s definitely not upset—it allows them some room to chat softly and amiably about nothing at all, Riku listening and nodding along as he decodes Sora’s sprawling trains of thought and gives the occasional prompt to set them back a-course.

It’s reaching time to draw to an end, especially as the castle’s pupils grow restless, and therefore more prone to insubordination under the guise of well-meaning concern. When the phone buzzed insistently as he led the group through exercises one day recently, a particularly precocious youth brassily demanded to know where the fire was.

_“Only someone I don’t like to keep waiting,_ ” Riku responded as he paused a moment to send along regrets and promises to the aforementioned _waiting_ , whose idea of an emergency didn’t always quite line up with the actual nature of one. When Riku looked back up it was to the rounded eyes of every single young wielder under his purview, decidedly not doing as instructed. He very nearly made the mistake of engaging, but doubled back to stern redirection to quell them immediately. But only for a moment. Deeply suspicious, they had clawed at every opportunity since to figure out just what—just _who—_ caused such a dramatic break in character, and what magic force across all of the realms could possibly conjure this fond and distracted smile: an impossible thing, well past the reaches of comprehension.

Terra and Aqua take no end of pleasure in relaying the guesses they overhear, or are sometimes even asked of them directly. They promise they remain mum on the subject. Each time they’re approached they insist it’s not theirs to tell, but they all know it only makes the speculation worse, especially since neither can keep a straight face when they say it. _A great master_ , they share with amusement. _A respected mentor. A powerful ally_ , _an old friend_ , and, most comically, _a beautiful lady_. Somewhere in the combination of all of those lies the truth, though no end of goading from any of Departure’s stewards can get Riku to define it, regardless of the audience.

Out of them it’s the third who tries the hardest, but Riku is led into a false sense of security by Ventus’s current absence from the castle—still at the tower, where he divides much of his time, or possibly not far behind Kairi in Radiant Garden. At the close of the day’s lessons Riku finds a quiet bench and seizes the moment to conclude his conversation from earlier, then is caught off-guard by the sound of a polite solicitation from somewhere below his knee. Riku looks up, startled.

“Who was that?” says a little cat creature, peering up at him from below as he places the phone down before him. “I’m Chirithy,” it says by way of explanation—as if it actually explained anything.

“Hello,” Riku says cautiously.

Ventus pads over then, drawing its attention away—Chirithy scampers to greet him instead, running circles around his legs for a moment before stopping to clutch him at the calf. Ventus’s laugh is a charming thing, a little peal in that low way of his with a cheery crack around the edges. He scoops Chirithy up into his arms and takes a seat diagonal from Riku in the remaining space. Chirithy paces about on his lap then nestles in, now looking once again over at Riku in anticipation of an answer while Ventus settles himself. For a moment they display an odd tableau, just a shade away from symmetrical—their knees facing inward and their laps balancing something precious.

Riku reaches up to pluck the small listening device out of his ear and regards Chirithy cautiously.

“A gummiphone. See?” He proffers it gently, but Chirithy pouts and crosses its arms.

“I know that,” it says. “Ven has one too. But I didn’t ask _what_.”

Ventus looks down with his head cocked slightly, an amiable smile gracing his face.

“Chirithy. ‘Member how we talked about leaving people some space?”

“And not being a busybody,” Chirithy follows immediately, authoritative, regarding Riku again without faltering. “Yes. But you just looked so happy. I wanted to know.”

Ventus’s eyes light up.

“Well, now I wanna know too,” he says, as if he doesn’t, as if he possibly couldn’t. Riku debates a stubborn denial disguised as deflection—he _does_ talk to other people, even with fair frequency: the King, for instance. But it poorly refutes that detail on which he hinges an already flimsy counterargument.

Ventus proves he remains the most relentless by a mile when it comes to playing games at his expense. What the fascination is Riku is unable to pin, but decides it probably rests somewhere in the joy of seeing the unflappable flapped. Chirithy looks on steadily with its little button eyes, strangely compelling. Riku will attempt not to give either the satisfaction; though it a fruitless one, he’ll go down with a fight.

“My friend,” he responds finally, but it’s already not quite enough.

“Someone important?” Chirithy asks. Riku opts to level with it. Backed into a corner by a cat. But he still carries deep within some ornery alley tendencies of his own, and claws for them in attempt to even the odds.

“My very best friend.”

“ _Really_ important,” Ventus elaborates with gravity. “More important than that.”

It is at times like these where Riku almost misses Vanitas, though not quite enough to change his mind about the invitation.

“How important?” chirps Chirithy.

“Why does it matter?”

“Why _doesn’t_ it?” Ventus slides in. “Imagine if your _very best friend_ could hear you now.”

Riku sighs.

“Extremely. The most, probably.”

“The most important?”

“The most important.”

“It must be wonderful to have such a good friend.”

“You could say that.”

“You _could_ ,” Ventus says, far from finished. “But there are lots of other words you can use, too. A few really good ones.”

Considering the constant back and forth in the planning process they’ve trapped themselves into, Riku may finally pull his one trump card and make an executive decision regarding the final guest list. It’s a living document; there’s still a lot of trimming that needs doing. He attempts to convey this as evenly as possible.

“There are plenty. But I don’t need a word.”

“No one _does_. But why not, when there’s a perfectly good one? That the _both_ of you can use?”

“It’s not just one thing. I don’t want to give that impression.”

“Well, what would he use?”

The moment has come, as he knew it would, where he would have no further recourse. Chirithy’s eyes have been tracking rapidly back and forth across each volley as if it were a particularly fast-paced game of fruitball, and now rest sparkling in wait of the conclusion: 40-Love. Ventus lands the killing blow.

“He’d be really sad if he knew you weren’t using it.”

Riku is visibly cowed for a moment, not that this is news. He’s already been defeated—remaining silent is his white flag.

“And I know I don’t have to tell you that he’s really proud. He tells everybody all the time. About you. And he probably won’t tell you he’s disappointed, but—”

“ _Fine_ ,” Riku starts with vehemence, “you’re right, of course I know that, and I know it because I know _him_. Because we are engaged, and are going to get married, because he is my _fiancé._ And somehow I am still lucky enough to be the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and I still can’t believe I get to hold on to something that matters to me more than anything else in the universe. Forever.”

Riku pulls a little face of chagrin about it but cannot be stopped, buoyed now by emotion well more powerful.

“So yeah. It’s a little more than that. But I’ll just say ‘ _fiancé.’_ Are you happy now? He’s my…my _partner_ ,” he says derisively, “or what _ever_ you wanna call it, because it’s true. But what I’m saying is that’s not the important part. _He’s_ what’s important. _We_ are what’s important. And that’s how it’s gonna be, every day until the last. Him and me. We’re together. And make no mistake, I’m happy about it, that’s not the issue. I love him, and I miss him, and I’m excited for our future. I’m—he’s…the literal light of my life. It’s hard for me to describe all of that with one word to just anyone when they don’t know anything else about it. But it’s the best thing I’ve got, especially when it’s what he says. It’s good enough for him, so it’s his to use. He’s more than enough for me, so it’s good enough to be mine, too. So there. It’s…he’s my fiancé. I’m his. I’m talking to my fiancé.”

_I’d lock you all in the realm of darkness for him if it came to that,_ he almost quips, but it’s in poor taste—it’s not funny if it’s true. He’ll workshop a more sensitive version for the speech, though the subtext will be clear.

Ventus is doubled over with silent laughter, more joyful than at his expense, and a wide-eyed Chirithy runs in place at his ankles. Riku is very suddenly aware of every detail—his arm dangling loosely in front of him, his fingers curled around the phone like a lifeline, the satisfaction of a decision made settling into his chest…he smiles, small, short, conciliatory, and once again picks up the phone. It connects almost immediately; Riku laughs at the sound of his voice.

“Hey, Sora. Do you have a second to say ‘hi’ to everyone? I want to introduce you.”

**Author's Note:**

> completely unable to think about any way to describe this or any other established fic than  
> [monotone steve rogers voice: 'riiight. we're gettin' married.'](https://youtu.be/Y4xYQco9r3M?t=62) anyway uh if you guys need anything, i've been ann 
> 
> in the tradition: lyrically [here](https://youtu.be/iwblPzF8L_0)  
> but tonally [here](https://youtu.be/LFzQ-UHgf54)  
> but also some of [this as well](https://youtu.be/D6tVGxkH35g)
> 
> [and now for something completely different](https://youtu.be/M3cbrXMXNUo) (just kidding it's the same artist, new album)
> 
> [yell at me about my taste in music](https://twitter.com/parkadescandal) (for better or for worse)


End file.
